How to install the Element chat client on Linux
Element is a secure instant messaging app based on the Matrix protocol. It is decentralized and a great alternative to apps like Slack. Here’s how to install Element on Linux.
Ubuntu installation instructions
You’ll need a terminal window to get the Element chat app working on Ubuntu. Open up a terminal window on the desktop by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T on the keyboard or opening it through the app menu.
With the terminal window open, use the apt install command to set up the “apt-transport-https” package.
sudo apt install apt-transport-https
Next, run the wget command and download the Element GPG repo key. This key is required to install the Element app.
sudo wget -O /usr/share/keyrings/element-io-archive-keyring.gpg https://packages.element.io/debian/element-io-archive-keyring.gpg
With the GPG repo key downloaded and set up, run the echo command to add the Element repo to Ubuntu’s software sources.
echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/element-io-archive-keyring.gpg] https://packages.element.io/debian/ default main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/element-io.list
After adding the repo, run the apt update command. This command will refresh Ubuntu’s software sources and allow it to be accessible to users.
sudo apt update
Finally, install the Element app on your Ubuntu computer using the apt install command.
sudo apt install element-desktop
Debian installation instructions
The Debian instructions are similar to the Ubuntu instructions for Element. To start, you’ll need a terminal. You can open up a terminal window on Debian by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T on the keyboard or launching it via the app menu.
With the terminal window open, use the apt-get install command and set up the apt-transport-https package.
sudo apt-get install apt-transport-https
Next, you’ll need to download and install the Element GPG repo key. This key is required to install software from the repo on Debian.
sudo wget -O /usr/share/keyrings/element-io-archive-keyring.gpg https://packages.element.io/debian/element-io-archive-keyring.gpg
After setting up the GPG repo key, use the echo command to add the official Element software repository Debian.
echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/element-io-archive-keyring.gpg] https://packages.element.io/debian/ default main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/element-io.list
You must now run the apt-get update command to refresh Debian’s software sources.
sudo apt-get update
Finally, install the Element chat client on Debian using the apt-get install command.
sudo apt-get install element-desktop
Arch Linux installation instructions
Sadly, the official Element website doesn’t mention Arch Linux in their “Linux” section. However, the app is in the Arch Linux User Repository, so it is easy to set up.
To start, open up a terminal window on the Arch Linux desktop. Once open, run the pacman -S command and install the “git” and “base-devel” packages.
sudo pacman -S git base-devel
Next, run the git clone command and download the latest version of the Trizen AUR helper. This tool will make setting up Element on Arch Linux easier.
git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/trizen.git
Install the Trizen client.
cd trizen/
makepkg -sri
Finally, install the Element chat app on Arch Linux with the trizen -S command.
trizen -S element-desktop
Fedora installation instructions
Fedora Linux users will be able to install the Element chat client through a dedicated Copr repository provided by the developers. To start, open up a terminal window on the Linux desktop.
You can open up a terminal window on the desktop by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T on the keyboard. You can also open it by searching for “Terminal” in the app menu. Then, run the dnf install command below.
sudo dnf install -y dnf-plugins-core distribution-gpg-keys
With the packages installed on your computer, run the dnf copr enable command to set up the Element Copr repository.
sudo dnf copr enable taw/element
Finally, set up the Element application on Fedora Linux by running the following dnf install command.
sudo dnf install -y element --refresh
OpenSUSE installation instructions
Those on OpenSUSE Linux won’t find any official support on the Element website. However, the app is supported on Tumbleweed, Leap 15.3, and Leap 15.4. So to get the app working on your system, start by heading to the Element page on the OpenSUSE software site.
Once on the Element page, find your release and click on the “Show community packages” button. Select the “1 Click Install” button to install the Element chat client on OpenSUSE Linux when you’ve revealed the community packages.
Flatpak installation instructions
Element is available as a Flatpak. To set it up on your computer, start by setting up the Flatpak runtime. Unsure how to set up the Flatpak runtime? Follow our setup guide.
With the Flatpak runtime configured, use the two flatpak commands below to set up the latest Element release on Linux.
flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo flatpak run im.riot.Riot
